Category Archives: The Missouri Bobwhite Theater

http://www.mdc.mo.gov/landown/wild/quail/ Space for Quail! Starring the persistent Bob White and a whole cast of edge habitat. When we last visited quail space, the grasses were becoming very thick and all the shrubs had been choked. Quail space was unbalanced and predators were snatching up unsuspecting quail. The young quail were struggling to move through the grasses, find insects and dust in bare soil. This wasn’t what Bob and the rest of the quail needed for survival! Bob cries for help! With some sound grassland management and disturbance of the soil surface, Bob White soon had a mixture of habitat — grasslands with clumps of native grasses, shrubs, crop fields, weedy patches and trees. Perfect space to roam. A real mixture of habitat. Bunches of bluestem and other prairie grasses left space to move, hunt insects and nest, plus all the blades of grass overhead kept Bob and the clutch protected from predators. The quail built a nest on the ground right next to a grass clump and were hidden from raccoons and other predators. The young chicks hatched and found their high-protein diet of insects. Winter is coming — and Bob White and the covey will be safe in their space. Quail habitat provides high energy seeds like ragweed and corn. Nighttime falls on Bob White and the covey and they form a circle for warmth and protection. Here they will thrive in the disturbed or early successional habitat — just the right mix. Space for Quail!!

Volunteers with Quail Forever created escape cover and habitat connectivity for bobwhites where private fields meet public forest land in Missouri’s Bootheel region. Experts also counted calls to assess the quail population of Crowley’s Ridge Conservation Area. For more information, visitfieldandstream.com/heroforaday